Eyes Open
by M. L. Ayala
Summary: "Everybody's waiting, everybody's watching, even when you're sleeping, keep your eyes open." After Cloud disappears while fighting Sephiroth, Tifa Aerith and Yuffie set out to find him. Along the way, memories start to surface, and a forgotten story reunites some old friends. Yuffentine, Zerith, Cloti. Starts in Kingdom Hearts universe.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! So this idea's been floating around in the back of my mind for about a week, and I finally got around to working on it. I got the idea when I was reading "Pretend" by La Editor and "Crimson Eyes and Angel Wings" by ShadesxofxPurple, both of which are set in the Kingdom Hearts Universe.

This story is going to start in the Kingdom Hearts Universe, but after the first few chapters it's probably not going to have too many KH references, so I'm not going to bother putting it in with the crossovers.

It's been a while since I've written anything, so it may take me a bit to get back into the swing of things, but so far I don't think this is too bad. That being said, I have to admit that I'm not very good at writing Yuffie's character, although since I'm not writing in first person it shouldn't be as much of an issue. However, if she seems extremely out of character please let me know, and any suggestions are welcome!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_**Everybody's waiting**_

_**Everybody's watching**_

"_Cloud, you'll never let go of the darkness."_

"_Shut up."_

"_You'll never let go of your past…"_

"_Shut up!"_

_Sephiroth slashed at him again with the Masamune. "Absurd. Defeating me is meaningless. You know that more than anyone, Cloud. No matter how many times I fall, your darkness keeps calling me back!"_

"_Wrong!"_

"_Tifa! Stay back!"_

"_How can I? I wanna help you."_

"_You can't. He'll never let go of the darkness." Sephiroth looked smugly at Cloud as they leapt apart again._

"_He doesn't have to," came Tifa's calm reply. "He just needs someone to surround him with light." Sephiroth swung to face her. "The darkness will be there, Sephiroth - but in a place you can't reach."_

"_Is that right?" he looked almost amused, "Let's see what this light of yours can do." Tifa rolled out of the way as he brought the Masamune down where she had been standing just a moment before. She down towards him, aiming a punch at his face which he easily sidestepped._

"_No!" Cloud watched as they dodged each other's blows. He managed to get between them before Sephiroth could hurt her._

"_Cloud, you can have my light."_

"_The light doesn't suit you," Sephiroth readied Masamune once again._

"_I just … don't know," Cloud shook his head as a bright light surrounded him._

"_Stop!" Sephiroth jumped, using his wing to propel him forward._

_Cloud leapt to meet him and the two disappeared in a blinding light above._

* * *

"_Where'd they go?" Goofy asked as the group looked up at the empty sky. "Do you think they made it back to their own world?"_

"_They went somewhere else…" Sora answered. "Cloud went to fight a great battle - to defeat the darkness inside him."_

"_Gone again," Tifa sighed._

"_What will you do now?" Sora asked._

"_Hmm," she closed her eyes and thought. "Guess I'll keep looking."_

"_Got any leads?"_

"_Don't worry, light is easy to find."_

_Sora, Donald and Goofy watched as she walked back towards town._

* * *

"You mean you're gonna leave us here?" Yuffie cried. "C'mon! Cloud's our friend, too!"

"I know that, Yuffie, but you've all been working so hard here, and there's still a lot to do to get Radiant Garden back to the way it was," Tifa explained. "It makes sense for me to go look for him by myself while you all keep working."

"And wasn't this whole Restoration Committee your idea?" Leon asked from where he was standing in the corner.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Yuffie glared at him. "Just because it was my idea doesn't mean that I have to be here for it to work! You and Aerith can stay here for all I care. But I wanna go!"

"Yuffie…" the soft-spoken flower girl met the young ninja's eyes.

"Oh, don't tell me, you think we should stay, too," Yuffie crossed her arms in front of her and frowned.

"No, actually, I think it's a good idea."

"...really?"

Aerith nodded. Turning to Tifa, she clasped her hands in front of her. "Having more of his friends there to support him couldn't hurt," she said lightly.

Tifa stared into Aerith's emerald green eyes for some time before nodding slowly. "Alright. Who's coming then?"

"Me, obviously!" Yuffie jumped up, "I'll go get my stuff!" she shouted over her shoulder as she ran out of the room.

"I take it you're coming, too," Tifa looked at Aerith, who nodded. "There's room for one more on my ship, do you want to come, Leon?"

"I'll stay here," he answered, standing to leave. "Have fun keeping track of Yuffie."

* * *

"So where're we going first?" Yuffie bounced excitedly in her seat as Tifa started to gummi ship.

"Hmm. I don't know. We'll have to figure it out as we go."

Aerith closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "I think … yes, I remember Cloud saying something about how he had spent time in the Olympus Coliseum before he came to Radiant Garden. Maybe we should start there?"

"That's as good a place as any," Tifa nodded and started flipping switches and pressing buttons on the control panel in front of her. "It's a long ride, so get comfortable."

After several hours of Yuffie's constant babbling about how excited she was and could they believe this was her first time going somewhere other than Radiant Gardens (Traverse Town didn't count in her opinion since she hadn't had a choice about going there) and did they think they would find Cloud right away because she wanted to see more worlds before they found and and and… she had finally fallen asleep.

Tifa looked uneasily over her shoulder at the ninja before whispering to Aerith, "Does she always talk that much?"

"Mmhmm," Aerith smiled sympathetically at her. "You'll learn to tune her out after a while." Tifa shook her head in disbelief and returned her attention to the gummi ship's controls.

Suddenly the inky blackness surrounding the ship turned a brilliant, pure white, then faded back to a dark purple-black, but not as dark as it had been before.

"What was that?" Tifa looked over at Aerith, who was smiling softly.

"Sora. He must have defeated Organization XIII." Aerith's knowing smile lit up her entire face. "Things are going to start going back to normal."

Tifa smiled back, and looked over at Yuffie again. "Do you think we should wake her up and tell her?"

Aerith shook her head. "She'll know soon enough."

* * *

_Yuffie spun, Conformer flying gracefully from her hand. "Take that, Heartless!" she laughed as the group of shadows dissolved around her. "Yes! The great ninja Yuffie strikes again! No heartless can match me!" _

_She swung Conformer around her victoriously and grinned before trotting further down the path, not noticing how the familiar scenery of Radiant Garden had faded into a rundown city. Ahead of her she spotted a huge heartless stomping through the street._

"_Oooh, a challenge…"_

_As she crept along behind a line of rubble and broken down cars, she tried to figure out what type of heartless it was. The large purple body and horns that curled up from its face looked more funny than frightening, and she couldn't keep from giggling. At this its head came up and it turned to face her._

"_Oops…"_

_It charged towards her, and all of a sudden it didn't look funny anymore. Blue-gray hide and red-orange mane surrounded a snarling face framed by two glossy black horns that looked like they had recently been sharpened._

"_Aaah!" she slipped and found herself staring up as the beast leapt at her._

_Two gunshots, so close together you could barely distinguish the separate sounds, tore through the air and the beast (behemoth..?) fell at her feet. She scrambled up and took a few steps back to study the scene before her. The behemoth was dead, and a pale blue-green stream was rising from its body (that's not right ... shouldn't it have released a heart ..?)_

_She turned to thank Leon (of course it had to be Leon, he was the only one who had a gun … well, gunblade … it couldn't have been anyone else, right..?) "Heh, thanks for that Le-"_

"_Yuffie." That was definitely not Leon's voice…_

_Looking up she found herself staring into a pair of blood red eyes._

* * *

Yuffie jerked up from her lounging position in the seat. "What just happened?"

_**Even when you're sleeping**_

_**Keep your ey-eyes open**_

* * *

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, here's the next chapter! If everything works out how I'm planning, they'll be completely out of the Kingdom Hearts universe by the end of the next chapter. So far I think this is going pretty well, and I should be able to update pretty quickly, so long as nothing comes up in my personal life :/

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_**The tricky thing**_

_**Is yesterday we were just children**_

_**Playing soldiers**_

"Are you sure you're alright, Yuffie?" Aerith asked, watching the girl squirm and avoid meeting her eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Super. It was nothing. Really." Yuffie looked at the floor, the ceiling, the window, anything but Aerith and Tifa. "I'm just tired of being stuck in here," she waved her hands at the ship.

"Well, we're almost there," Tifa said.

"Good, because I'm feeling a little queasy…"

"Don't you dare get sick in here!" Tifa turned around to glare at her. "We've been traveling for hours and you're just now getting motion sickness? I can't believe this," she faced forward again.

Yuffie kept her head down and didn't mention that it had more to do with the dream she had had than anything. _Red eyes … red eyes … I don't know anyone with red eyes … do I?_

* * *

"Wow, this is … disappointing …" Yuffie looked at their surroundings and shook her head.

"What were you expecting?" Tifa asked wryly as she walked past.

An image of a sprawling city came to mind, but Yuffie didn't say anything. When she thought of cities she thought of the one from her dream, and she still wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Yuffie, please," Aerith put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to meet her eyes, "try to be … discreet. We don't want to offend anyone here." Aerith sighed and went to catch up with Tifa.

"Okay, well, you guys can go check in town, I'm gonna go see what that big building is up there!" She dashed past the other two before they could say anything.

After passing through a large door flanked by two even larger warrior statues, she found herself in an arena. It was completely empty of people, with just a few boxes and barrels scattered around. She sighed and walked over to the stands. _This is way more boring that I thought it would be…_ Sitting down she scuffed the toe of one of her shoes on the floor and let her thoughts wander.

_Why couldn't we end up on a world like the one I saw in my dream? Sure it was depressing, but something about it … it felt familiar …_ she let her eyes drift closed as she tried to picture the city again. No matter how hard she tried, the landscape just blurred the more she concentrated on it. The only clear image she had was of those eyes.

Huffing in annoyance, Yuffie threw herself down along the bench so that she was lying on her back. _Who knows how long Aerith and Tifa will be in town,_ she thought with a roll of her eyes. As she lay there, her eyes slowly drifted closed again.

* * *

_She was in a forest, looking up at the stars through the tree branches. A fire crackled somewhere behind her, and every now and then a snore would carry through the air. The shadows shifted to her left, and all of a sudden someone was sitting beside her._

"_Yuffie."_

"_Hey V- - -"_

"_It is late. You should sleep."_

"_Nah. Don't feel like it."_

"…"

"_Too much on my mind, ya know?"_

_A movement, a single nod, from her companion, and they lapsed into silence._

"_The others don't think that I'm taking this seriously. Because I'm always joking and laughing." She bowed her head. "They don't see how hard it is … especially since Aerith …" _

_Her companion was completely still, and she wondered if she had said the wrong thing. One could never be sure with him._

"_You know what? Just forget I said anything…" she stood and turned to go back to her place by the fire._

"_Yuffie…" she turned to look at him, but he was no longer there. A hand hesitatingly rested on her shoulder. She could sense him struggling to find words._

"_Don't worry about it, V- - -. I'll be okay."_

_After taking a few steps she turned to look over her shoulder, and her stormy grey eyes met glowing red ones._

"_Thanks, though."_

* * *

This time she woke up slowly, and as she sat up she tried to hold onto the image from the end of her dream. And yet, it faded so quickly that all she was left with was an image of glowing red eyes and a sense that everything she and the gang had faced up to this point had been child's play compared to what was going to happen (whether it was just in her dreams or not, she wasn't sure).

"Hey, you okay?" Yuffie jumped up and whipped out Conformer, pointing it at the person who had just come up behind her. He took a step back and held his hands up in front of him. "Whoa, easy! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"You didn't scare me," she said indignantly, lowering Conformer when she saw that he wasn't a threat. Actually he was kind of cute, she thought as he took a seat next to her. His spiky black hair and bright blue eyes gave him a mischievous look, like he would be a good person to pull pranks with.

"So what are you doing out here by yourself?"

"Just waiting for some friends," she sat back down and set Conformer beside her. "What about you?"

"I came to get some practice in before the tournament tomorrow," he eyed Conformer and grinned. "Say, you wanna help me out? Hitting these barrels around isn't really much of a challenge, and no else has shown up yet. Do you feel like sparring?" He gestured to the sword he had strapped to his back.

"Sure!" Yuffie leapt up again with a grin of her own.

"Great! I'm Zack," he said, his grin turning into a genuinely friendly smile.

"Yuffie," she swung Conformer up to her shoulder and struck a pose, "the greatest ninja ever!"

"I wonder if you'll still be the 'greatest' after I beat you!" he laughed as he went into a battle pose and drew his sword.

"Psh, yeah right. I bet I could beat you in my sleep!"

"We'll see about that."

Yuffie didn't have time to reply before he dashed toward her. She did a cartwheel to avoid the diagonal slash that he had aimed at her.

"Not too shabby!" she darted behind one of the barrels and kicked it, sending it flying through the air.

Zack rolled out of the way and came at her again. "You're not so bad yourself!"

They carried on like this for a while, trading blows and sending the occasional box or barrel at each other. Neither noticed the doors to the arena opening. Zack sent another barrel flying just as Tifa screamed, "Yuffie, what are you doing?" Distracted, she turned to look at Tifa and Aerith.

"Yuffie!" Zack shouted in warning, but she didn't move fast enough. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the ground rushing up to meet her.

* * *

_Yuffie typed furiously on the little keys on her phone. "I can't tell you my name, but I know something of interest to you. I'm not the same person as the sender of the last two anonymous messages, so don't worry. I heard there's a secret item somewhere inside some cave. If an anti-Shinra entity finds this, then stick a fork in Shinra - it's done! You really should find it before it's too late." Hitting the send button, she grinned. "Piece of cake! He'll be here in no time."_

_She hid behind some of the rocks at the cave entrance and waited. It didn't take very long before she heard someone coming up the path._

"_I can't believe this … it was only an hour ago that she sent the last message …" he muttered under his breath. (Silly SOLDIER, didn't he know that ninjas have AWESOME hearing?) Yuffie held perfectly still until he has passed. After counting to ten, she followed him. _

_It didn't take long for him to fight through all of the monsters and find the treasure chest. As soon as he went to open it, she made her move. Dashing up behind him, she slid to a stop and put her hands on her hips._

"_Stand aside!" she demanded, using her most intimidating voice. _

_He turned and looked down at her, a bemused expression in his eyes. _

"_I said, stand aside!"_

"_No! I earned this fair and square. If you want treasure, you have to work for it yourself!" He looked down his nose at her with his bright blue eyes. "Look, I don't mind helping you, but right now I'm the only one doing any work!"_

_Yuffie narrowed her eyes, then her lip started to tremble. "I want … my treasure," she sniffed as tears started to pool in her eyes._

"_Uh-uh, I'm not falling for that again. You're not going to cry," he crossed his arms and kept staring down at her. She sniffed a few more times, then started sobbing. "Whoa! Hey, hey, none of that! Seriously, don't cry!" Her sobs turned to wails and she fisted her hands at her sides. "Okay … okay fine, fine, take it!"_

_At this, her wails stopped abruptly and she ran past him, not bothering to check what was in the chest as she grabbed it and kept going. _

"_Sucker…" she chuckled as she ran out of the cave and started looking for somewhere to examine her latest prize._

_**Just pretending**_

_**Dreaming dreams with happy endings**_

_**In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords**_


	3. Chapter 3

I'm glad that everyone has enjoyed this so far!

This is the longest chapter so far, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Hope you all like it!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**_But now we've stepped into a cruel world_**

**_Where everybody stands and keeps score_**

"Yuffie!"

"Yuffie! Can you hear us?"

"Open your eyes! C'mon Yuffie!"

"Nooooo," she groaned, curling up into a ball. "Five more minutes …"

"She's alright," Aerith sighed, moving away from the young ninja.

"I can't believe she didn't dodge that! I'd barely hit her at all before that," Zack held his hands out at his sides. "I'm really sorry." He ran a hand through his hair and looked nervously back and forth between Aerith and Tifa. "Seriously, I didn't mean to hit her that hard."

"Don't worry about it," Aerith told him. "Stuff like this seems to happen to her a lot. She usually bounces back pretty quickly, so I'm not too worried about her."

Tifa nodded and straightened from where she had been kneeling next to Yuffie. "Once she gets up we'll head back to the ship. I think I have an idea where we should go next."

* * *

Yuffie stood next to the ship watching Aerith smile shyly at Zack. They had been "saying goodbye" for the past five minutes, and they still didn't look ready to part. Something about seeing the two of them together made her feel like crying and smiling at the same time, though she had no idea why.

"Hey, Tifa," she called as she entered the ship, "we have room for someone else to come with us, right?"

"Yeah," Tifa turned from where she had been checking their supplies. "Why do you ask?"

"Well … I think we should ask Zack to come with us," she plopped down in her seat and looked at the other girl.

"I don't know, Yuffie. We just met him, and he seems like he's pretty busy with his own stuff. Didn't he say something about a tournament that he's competing in tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but Tifa, c'mon, you have to have noticed the way he and Aerith are getting along. They're still out there talking, and they don't look like they're gonna stop anytime soon." She crossed her arms and looked down at her feet, "besides, I don't like the idea of seeing them separated. I know it sounds weird … but …"

Tifa looked thoughtful for a moment, before responding, "You know, now that I think about it, I kind of feel the same way," she looked at Yuffie and raised one eyebrow, "they've been apart long enough. But that doesn't make any sense because they've only just met." She shook her head and moved toward the door. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask if he wants to come."

"Tifa?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you got any other weird feelings, other than this with Zack and Aerith?" Yuffie carefully avoided making eye contact as she asked this.

Tifa crossed her arms and fisted one hand beneath her chin while she thought for a moment. "I can't say that I have. The only thing I've been thinking about lately is finding Cloud, and helping him get past whatever it is that he's going through right now." She studied Yuffie for a few seconds. "Why do you ask?"

Yuffie jumped up and shook her head quickly, "No reason! Just wondering, that's all! Hey, I'm gonna go run through the town real quick, since I didn't really get to see it before, okay?" She dashed out the door before Tifa could give her an answer.

_Whew, that was close_, she thought as she stopped just outside of the town. She had absolutely no desire to see any more of this world, but she had to get away from Tifa's knowing gaze.

Sliding down the wall into a sitting position, she wondered how long it would be until they left. Maybe the next world they visited would be more like the one that she kept seeing.

* * *

_"Hey Vi- - -! Just wanted to congratulate you on finally getting a phone! Seriously, it's about time! The next step is actually ANSWERING your phone, but that's okay, you're probably really busy right now so I'll just call back later. Bye!"_

_"Okay V- - -y, this is like, the twelfth time I've called you this week, and you haven't picked up once. Can you please try to answer sometime? I'll call back in a few hours, and you'd better answer, mister!"_

_"V- -V- -, c'mon! I'm getting really tired of listening to your answering machine. It's so boring. You know, if you actually answered your phone I wouldn't have to listen to it, and I wouldn't be bored! Don't you want to keep me from being bored? Answer your phone!"_

_"Oh, haha, very funny. Just because you changed the message doesn't make it any less boring, V- - -. You know what, just for that, I'm not going to call you for a whole day! See how you like that!"_

_"Okay, forget about that last message. I really need to talk to you, so can you call me back? Or at least answer next time I call? Please?"_

_"V- - -y Vi- V- - McV- - - - -! Did you lose your phone? You must have lost your phone, that's the only explanation for why you haven't answered any of the messages that I've left you! You really need to find it and call me back. I'm waiting!"_

_"Hey, V- - -, I think your inbox is full. You really need to delete some of those unimportant messages. You know, the ones that Re- - sends you about missions and stuff. You don't need those! Trust me, I never listen to the ones he sends me, and I do just fine!"_

_"Yuffie, I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop leaving me messages."_

_"Hey! You found your phone! Wait, did you even lose it in the first place? Well whatever, don't worry about it. Cloud and Tifa said something about an A- -L- -HE reunion in a few weeks, so I guess I'll see you there. Don't be late! I've got lots and lots to tell you! Of course you'll just sit in your corner and brood, but you can still listen to all my awesome stories and -"_

* * *

"Yuffie!" Tifa shook the ninja's shoulder again, trying to get her attention.

"Huh, what?" Yuffie blinked a few times and looked up. "Oh, hey Tifa, ready to go?"

"Yuffie, you've been staring into space for the past five minutes, what's going on with you?" Tifa stepped back, and Yuffie stood and skipped off a few steps.

"Nothing! I was just zoned out, that's all. Why are you so worried?" Tifa didn't answer, just rolled her eyes and started back to the ship. "Hey, did you ask Zack if he wants to come with us?"

"Yeah, he's coming. He and Aerith are waiting for us back at the ship."

"Great! Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Yuffie took off running.

* * *

"So where are we headed now?" Yuffie asked as she settled into her seat on the ship.

"You're just going to have to wait and see," Tifa answered, not bothering to look over at the younger girl.

Yuffie sighed and slouched in her seat. "It's gonna be another long ride, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"Great."

"Oh, come on Yuffie," Zack grinned at her, "it'll be fun!"

"You're just saying that because you've never been to another world before. It's not as exciting as it's cracked up to be."

"Actually, this isn't my home world. I just came here because I wanted to train to become a hero."

"If this isn't your home world," Tifa looked over her shoulder at him questioningly, "then where are you from?"

His grin faded as he thought for a moment. "… You know, it's weird … but … for some reason, I can't remember," he ran a hand through his spiky hair and looked away. "How could I forget something like that?" An uncomfortable silence descended on all of them, until Zack laughed. "Oh well, guess I've just spent too much time here," he shrugged.

"But," Yuffie looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "doesn't it bother you? Not remembering something so important?"

"Well, yeah. But the way I see it, if it really is important, it'll come back to me," his blue eyes met her stormy grey ones, and after a second they widened slightly. Yuffie looked away quickly, not knowing what to say since something in his gaze told her that he knew she was having memory issues as well. "You can't force memories. When the time is right, they'll come back to you."

Yuffie glanced up at this, nodded once in acknowledgment, and turned to look out the window. She couldn't decide if it made her feel better knowing that Zack felt like he had forgotten something important as well.

* * *

"How much longer?" Yuffie moaned as she slid down further in her seat.

"I told you, Yuffie, I don't know," Tifa said through gritted teeth. "Something is interfering with the navigation systems."

"Is there anything that we can do?" Aerith asked.

"No, I don't think so," Tifa said absently as she adjusted a dial on the panel in front of her. "I think it's just-"

The ship jerked suddenly to the side, sending Yuffie flying out of her seat. Zack fell on the floor and Aerith fell on top of him. Tifa managed to stay in her seat, and she began checking and adjusting all kinds of things on the control panel.

"What was that?!" Zack helped Aerith back into her seat just before the ship jerked again. Alarms started to wail and all of the lights began flashing.

Yuffie rolled into a ball on the floor and covered her head with her arms. "Make it stop, Tifa!"

"I'm trying!"

The ship shuddered, and all of a sudden they were in free fall. It rolled to the side and began tumbling over and over, as the four of them were tossed around the cabin like rag dolls. Yuffie managed to latch onto the back of her seat and watched helplessly as her friends collided with the walls and everything else that was flying around. She looked out the ships windows and saw the ground coming up to meet them at an alarming rate. Closing her eyes tightly, she waited for the impact.

* * *

_"Yuffie."_

_"Heya, Vince! I decided I'd come crash with you for a few days," she bounced past him into the main hall of the mansion, "you don't mind, right? Of course you don't, I make an awesome house guest!" She spun in a circle, taking in her surroundings. "Sheesh, you really need to fix this place up, it's a mess. I know! Once I'm all unpacked we'll go shopping! Then I'll help you get this place back in shape!"_

_He stood silently by the door and watched her as she danced around the room, never once ceasing her monologue about what they should do to make the mansion more acceptable for living. He sighed quietly and waited for her to finish._

_"So how about it? Are you in?" she grinned, her hands on her hips in that triumphant manner that she used when she knew that she had already won._

_He inclined his head slightly, and flinched at her high pitched squeal of delight._

_"Great! I'll just take my stuff upstairs! I'll be right back!" She grabbed her bag and dashed up the stairs. A little over halfway up, the step broke underneath of her, and she crashed through it to the floor. When the dust settled, she looked over at him and coughed a few times._

_"Perhaps we should start by repairing the stairs?" his voice was completely even as he said this, not betraying the slight smile that was hidden behind his cloak._

_"Are you laughing at me?" she narrowed her eyes at him, and crossed her arms. "You are! That's so rude, Vinnie! What if I'd been hurt?! Would you still be laughing then?!"_

_He moved so that he was standing over her. "No," he held out his hand to help her up. She glared at him for a few more seconds, before grinning again and taking his hand._

_"Alright, let's go. Those stairs aren't gonna fix themselves."_

**_Keep your eyes open_**

* * *

If you have an idea or a suggestion for one of Yuffie's flashbacks, let me know :)


	4. Chapter 4

CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: Wow! I wasn't expecting to get that many ideas at all, let alone from one person! Thanks so much, I'm not sure how many of them I'll use, but they definitely got me thinking!

little101: He'll show up eventually, I promise! My guess is within the next two chapters, maybe three. It really depends on where Yuffie decides to go after this :)

HazzaTL3: Thanks for reminding me about Fort Tamblin, that's exactly what I needed for this chapter!

PrincessofBadLuck: I'm glad that you like it so far! I've been really working on getting the characters right in this, so reading your review just made my day :)

Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and set this story to their alerts! It makes me smile when I check my email and see all of the alerts I have about reviews and whatnot for this story!

Alright, so the flashbacks kind of took over this chapter a little bit, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think this turned out pretty well, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**_Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown_**

**_Everybody's watching to see the fallout_**

**_Even when you're sleeping, sleeping_**

Yuffie's eyes fluttered open, but she immediately closed them again. _Too bright!_ she thought, turning her head away from the light.

"Ugh, what … happened …" she groaned, every part of her body screaming in pain. Her mind felt foggy and she couldn't keep her focus on anything for more than a few seconds before her thoughts slid away to something else.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she slowly opened her eyes again. It took a little while before her vision cleared and she was able to study her surroundings. She was in a forest, the trees overhead swaying in a slight breeze as beams of sunshine made their way between the leaves. There was a path, that she could just barely see from where she was sitting, that cut through the forest.

_I guess I should see where that goes_, she thought, looking around again. _Maybe then I'll figure out where I am…_

Yuffie stood slowly, swaying just a bit as her head started to pound. She reached up to touch the spot just above her temple where the pounding was the worst. Her fingers came away covered in a rusty red-brown color.

"That's not good," she mumbled, wondering what had caused the wound, and how long she had been unconscious. _Hopefully there's people around here somewhere…_

She stumbled over to the path, and tried to decide which way she should go. "Left or right, left or right, ummm, let's go … left … yeah that sounds like a good idea…"

After just a few minutes of walking, her mind started to wander again. _Just so long as my feet keep moving, I'll be fine… I have to run into someone sooner or later …_

* * *

_Yuffie slipped silently through the door, closing it behind her with a soft click. It was nearly midnight, and she had been out all day exploring. When she'd gotten tired of that, she'd gone into town and window shopped for a while. When that got boring, she decided to actually buy some things, then remembered that she had no money with her. Of course, she didn't let that stop her. _

_Now, sneaking back into the house, she realized that she'd barely eaten all day. Setting down her bags, she tiptoed to the newly renovated kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. (Ick! What's with all this healthy food? Didn't he buy any snacks?) Closing the door with a huff, she spun slowly in a circle, thinking._

_Before she could make any decisions, the lights snapped on, momentarily blinding her. She shrieked and jumped back, tripping over air in the process, and ended up sprawled out on the floor._

_"Yuffie."_

_"Oh … hehe, hey Vince. What's up?"_

_He didn't say anything, merely leaned against the doorframe and stared down at her. She noticed that he was fully dressed - shoes, cape, and everything._

_"Sheesh, don't you ever change your clothes?"_

_He raised one eyebrow questioningly._

_"I mean, c'mon, Vince, it's almost midnight. You're normally asleep by now."_

_"I was waiting," he crossed his arms in front of him and continued to watch her._

_"Waiting? For what?" She picked herself up off the floor and dusted herself off._

_"You."_

_"M-m-me?" she stammered, looking around nervously. "Why would you be waiting up for me?"_

_"Perhaps because I've gotten used to your habits," he replied, straightening and moving across the floor towards her. _

_She shuffled off in the opposite direction, keeping herself as far from him as possible. She didn't like the way that he was looking at her. That was the look that he gave her after she had played some prank that hadn't gone over all that well. Or when she 'borrowed' some of his materia. Or when she inadvertently caused something seriously bad to happen. Now that she thought about it, she got that look a lot …_

_"What habits? I really have no idea what you're talking about, Vince. I just wanted to get a little snack before I went up to bed! That's it! I swear!"_

_"And what happened the last time you decided to 'get a snack'?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice._

_Oh, that … yeah._

_"Erm, well, I uh …" she trailed off, mumbling something incoherent._

_"Yuffie." Now his tone was just short of scolding._

_"I almost burned the house down! There! You happy?! I almost burned the house down, and I was only boiling water! I'm sorry! How many times do I have to say it? I'm sorry, okay?!" she cried, before turning and running upstairs to her room._

_Not long after she had slammed the door, she heard a soft knock._

_"What do you want now?" she didn't bother getting up to open the door._

_"Yuffie," he sighed, "may I come in?"_

_"Sure. Why not."_

_He opened the door slowly, and if she had been in a better mood, she would have laughed at the way he hesitatingly peeked around the edge of the door, keeping out of the line of fire for as long as possible._

_"What is it, Vincent?"_

_"I did not mean to anger you, Yuffie," he let the door swing open the rest of the way, but stayed in the doorway. "There are leftovers for you in the microwave. If you had turned the light on, you would have seen the note on the counter."_

_"If you left a note, then why did you bother staying up? The whole point of leaving a note is so that you can go to bed and let the other person find it."_

_He sighed again, "I knew you would not bother to read it," (did he just roll his eyes? No way! He never rolls his eyes. It's like that action is beneath him or something. It must have been a trick of the light) "so I waited. The food is still downstairs if you want it." He turned and walked down the hallway to his room. "Goodnight, Yuffie," his voice carried clearly through the silent house, and she smiled._

_Bouncing out of bed, she made her way back down to the kitchen._

_A few minutes later, she was knocking on Vincent's door. "Hey, Vince, I never really liked that microwave, did you? I think we should get a new one … like, tomorrow. Sound good to you?" She stared up at him with as much innocence as she could muster when he opened the door. (He definitely rolled his eyes that time…)_

* * *

Yuffie's foot caught on a tree root in the path, making her trip and fall flat on her face. _Uhn, maybe I should try to pay more attention instead of daydreaming … or remembering … or whatever this is …_ Climbing slowly to her feet, she looked ahead and realized that she was near a large fort looking building.

"Wow, this looks cool," she said, stumbling forward through the plants that had overgrown the path.

She started walking along the wall, looking for a way inside. There were vines growing up the walls, and trees growing just a few feet away, but she started swaying as soon as she thought about climbing any of them.

"Head wounds and climbing: not a good combination…" she muttered, keeping a hand on the wall to steady herself as she walked.

After a few minutes of walking slowly around the outer wall, she found a section that had crumbled enough that she could climb through it. Inside wasn't in much better condition, with plants overgrowing everything and walls in various stages of collapse. Picking her way through it all, Yuffie found a banner, torn and faded, caught under part of a fallen wall. When she pulled it out and looked at it, she was surprised to find that the writing was still in fairly good condition.

"Too bad I can't read this gibberish," she chuckled, about to throw it over her shoulder when the light caught it a certain way. "What…" She narrowed her eyes and studied it again. "… Fort … Tamblin …" she whispered, running her eyes over the flowing lines. She dropped the banner like it had burned her and scrambled backward until her back hit the wall. "That's not possible! How can I read that! I've never seen that type of writing before in my life!" She ran her hands roughly through her hair and shook her head violently.

She turned and ran through the nearest archway. When she finally stopped, she stood hyperventilating and clutching her head, which now hurt even worse than it had before. A noise made her look up, and she found herself looking through another archway, this one leading out into a courtyard.

Although it was still in bad shape, this looked to be the most well preserved area in the entire fort. To her left was a split stair case leading up a large gate that was halfway off of its hinges. In front of where the stairs split, a small fountain stood, almost like it was on guard. To her right, a smaller building sat on a slight rise, the bushes and trees surrounding it suggesting careful landscaping, a long time ago. And someone was standing in front of the building, staring into space with a blank expression similar to the one that had been gracing her face so often lately.

* * *

_She stood in the shadows, watching as the brave troops tried to fight off the enemy. They gave it their all, but it just wasn't enough. It wasn't their fault. Their enemy cheated, using resources that her poor people couldn't hope to ever afford._

_One of the enemy had broken off from the rest, causing trouble all by himself. (I can do something about that!) She snuck along behind him, careful to keep out of sight until the right moment._

_Wutai's greatest warrior would save the day! Then her people would recognize her as more than just a scabby-kneed tomboy of a princess. They would see that she could help them._

_"One, avoid unnecessary training!" her voice rang out through the courtyard clearly, and the enemy froze in terror. "Two, protect Wutai at all costs!" Now he looked around frantically, fear in his eyes. "Three, ugly Shinra SOLDIER dudes …" oh, now she had him, he was quivering in fright, "...must be PUNISHED!"_

_She jumped onto the steps above him while he wasn't looking. (To his puny SOLDIER mind it must have looked like I appeared out of thin air! Haha!)_

_"Who are you?" he whimpered._

_"I'm Wutai's greatest warrior! If you wanna go further, you have to go through me!" she declared._

_He looked up at her, trying to look brave, but she could see through his act. "You shouldn't be playing here, it's dangerous! Go home to your parents."_

_She leapt up and over him, landing gracefully behind him. "You're the one who's going home!" She fisted her hands at her sides. "If you insist on going any further, you'll have a fight on your hands!"_

_He was so scared that he didn't move, just stared at her. (Alright, I'll give you a little incentive to get your butt moving!) She dashed up to him and started her attack, going easy on him at first, since she didn't want to obliterate him with her totally awesome moves._

_"Whap! Pow! Bam! Take that, bad guy!" _

_It took a few seconds before he overcame his shock and crumbled to the ground. "Arrrgh! Nooo! You got me!"_

_She put her hands on her hips and stared down at him triumphantly. "There! That'll teach you to mess with me! Once again I've brought peace to Wutai!" She turned and dashed off, looking for other stupid SOLDIERs to punish._

* * *

Yuffie blinked her eyes rapidly, then shook her head to try to clear away the images. She stepped into the courtyard, careful not to catch her feet in any of the overgrowth. When she got closer, she reached out and tugged on the other person's jet black hair.

"Let me guess," he kept his voice low, almost reverent, as he turned to face her, "if I wanna go further, I have to go through you?"

It should have been a statement, not a question. It should have been funny, not heartbreakingly depressing. It should have been something that she scoffed at, not something that made her burst into tears.

"Zack … what's … what's happening … to us?" she managed to cry out between her sobs. He held her in a loose hug, patting her back every now and then.

"I don't know, kid," he whispered, looking around at the crumbling fort. "I don't know."

**_Keep your ey-eyes open_**

**_Keep your ey-eyes open_**

**_Keep your ey-eyes open_**

* * *

From here on out things should pick up, now that she has someone else who knows what she's going through.

Also, I don't know that much about head wounds, and I'm too lazy to do any research right now, but I'd imagine that if someone woke up after a crash with a serious head wound they would be in shock and not thinking clearly. So that, along with some temporary short term memory loss, is why Yuffie just goes skipping off without even think about the others. I don't know, it just seemed to fit at the time, haha.

I said it last chapter, and I'll say it again: if anyone has any suggestions for a flashback, or something specific that they would like to see, let me know and I'll see if I can work it in somewhere.

Thanks again to all my readers! You're all awesome!


	5. Chapter 5

... So, life got a little crazy there for a while ... I meant to have this chapter written two weeks ago :/ Every time I went to work on it, it seemed like something else happened *sighs* I hate the end of summer, I always feel so depressed.

Anyways, Chapter 5 is finally finished!

Thanks so much to everyone who has read/reviewed/favorited/alerted this story! I can't believe how many people are reading it!

WARNING: College starts tomorrow, and I have absolutely no idea what to expect. So it could be a while before this is updated, but hopefully it won't be too long from now. Instead of writing each chapter in one or two sittings like I've been doing, I'm going to try to work for at least 20 minutes (probably more) every day or two. If this works out like I think it will, I should have a chapter up about once every 7-10 days, but this really depends on how much work I have to do for my classes.

If things go the way I've planned, then we're about halfway finished this story!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**_So here you are, two steps ahead and staying on guard_**

**_Every lesson forms a new scar_**

**_They never thought you'd make it this far_**

"So, how long have you been remembering stuff?" Yuffie sat next to the fountain, using the water to gently wash away some of the blood on her head. Zack sat with his back against the wall a few feet away, keeping a careful eye on her.

"Not long," he answered. "It didn't really start until after I saw you. Well," he looked away for a moment, "not you, exactly …"

Yuffie couldn't help but grin when she noticed that he was blushing. "When you saw Aerith?"

"Yeah." He started fiddling with the laces on his boots. "Actually, I did get the feeling that I knew you when I first saw you at the Coliseum. I just figured that I'd seen you in passing or something, you know? But now I know that couldn't be what it was." Zack looked over at her again. "When did you start remembering? If that's even what it is," he added softly.

"When we first left, to start looking for Cloud. I fell asleep, and I had a really weird dream, and since then, I just…" Zack nodded in understanding when she trailed off. "And now, looking at all of the stuff here in this fort, I get the feeling that I should remember a lot more than I do. It's just so frustrating!"

"It's like I said before, Yuffie. You can't force memories. When the time is right, they'll come back to you." He stood and offered her a hand up.

"I know, but it's like, the answer is right there in front of me, just out of my reach. And when I see things like this," she pointed to the carved figure in the fountain, "it just makes it worse. I know what this is," she leaned closer to the serpentine figure, "it has a name, I know it does, but I can't remember what it is."

Zack moved so that he could see the figure clearly, and studied it as well. "It must not have any significance to me," he said quietly, "the only feeling I get is that it was part a central part of the scenery last time I was here. I probably didn't know anything about it then, either."

Yuffie continued staring at the figure, showing no indication that she'd heard him. _If I can just remember ... this one tiny little thing … I know things will start to come back to me … they have to … what is its name? … It starts with ..._

"Leviathan!" she shouted, jumping and throwing her arms in the air triumphantly.

Zack jumped back and looked at her, a worried expression on his face.

"Its name is Leviathan!" She started to jump up and down again, excitement taking over, until her head started to pound. "Owww," she moaned, holding her head in her hands.

"Take it easy," Zack looked at her with a mixture of amusement and concern in his eyes. "What's so exciting about it?" he nodded his head towards the fountain.

"It's not that," she looked up at him, a genuine smile lighting up her face. "I actually remembered something that I wanted to remember, when I wanted to remember it! Everything before has just been in flashes, and the important stuff was never clear enough for me to understand." A determined look flashed in her eyes. "Now maybe I'll start to remember what happened to us."

Zack nodded and looked around one last time before heading towards the archway that Yuffie had come through earlier. "Alright, while you try to remember that, let's look for Aerith and Tifa."

* * *

_Aerith had been more quiet than usual, keeping to herself rather than talking with the rest of the group. Yuffie didn't notice the change right away, but once she did, it bothered her. Every so often she would catch the gentle flower girl gazing out into the distance, like she was looking for someone. _

_A few days passed, and Aerith still wasn't acting like herself. Yuffie had started paying more attention to her friend, worried by the changes that she was seeing._

_"Hey, Aerith," she came up beside her and watched her out of the corner of her eye, "are you okay?"_

_"Hmm? Why do you ask, Yuffie?" her voice was low, not quite a whisper._

_"I don't know, you just seem … distant …"_

_Aerith nodded, and turned to the young ninja, the beginnings of a sad smile on her face. "I'm alright, Yuffie. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."_

_As she said this, Cloud walked by, arguing with Barret over something. He looked over at them long enough to give Aerith a shy smile. When Yuffie looked back at Aerith, she saw that her smile had become forced._

_"Oh, I get it," she looked at Cloud, who had gone back to arguing with Barret. "You don't like him back."_

_Aerith sighed, "No, it's not that. Well, not exactly. You see," she hesitated, and Yuffie could see just how worn out Aerith looked, "I … I love someone else. Cloud … he reminds me of him sometimes, but it's not the same."_

_"Whose this other guy?" Yuffie's eyes widened dramatically, "it's not Barret, is it? Or Cid? Eww, please don't tell me it's one of them!"_

_Aerith interrupted her before she could say anymore. "No, Yuffie, it's not one of them," there was a hint of laughter in her voice now. "I haven't seen him in a very long time."_

_"Why not?"_

_She sighed again, and looked off into the distance. "He had to go away, and he couldn't tell me where. I was able to call him a few times, but then I lost contact with him."_

_"So you don't have any idea where he is?"_

_"Actually," Aerith shifted so that she was leaning back and looked up at the stars, "I do know where he is."_

_"Then why don't you go to him?"_

_"Because, he's gone somewhere where I can't follow. At least, not yet. Soon … I might be able to …" She reached up and ran her fingers over the faded pink bow in her hair._

_Yuffie nodded and smiled. "Well, if you need any help from me, just ask."_

_"Thanks, Yuffie."_

_Yuffie stood and turned to walk back over to the rest of the group. She looked over her shoulder, "Hey, what's his name?"_

_"Zack." Aerith's mouth curved up in a genuine smile. "Zack Fair."_

* * *

_Yuffie tried not to think about that conversation with the flower girl for a long time, since every time she did it reminded her of what had happened just a few days later. It wasn't until a year after her friend's death, that she finally realized what Aerith had meant about him being somewhere that she couldn't follow._

* * *

Yuffie felt the tears welling in her eyes, and rubbed furiously at them before they could fall. _That doesn't make any sense! Aerith's not dead! But … I remember watching her die … how is that possible? And what she said to me, does that mean that Zack had died, too? _She looked over at Zack, who was walking beside her, lost in his own thoughts.

"Zack?" she fought to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Hmm? Yeah?" he blinked and turned to her.

"What type of stuff do you see? You know, when you're ... remembering," she looked at him nervously.

He thought for a moment, closing his eyes and running a hand through his messy spiked hair.

"I see … flowers. A church, with flowers, and a hole in the roof. I remember falling through the roof, and waking up to an angel saying 'Hello.' Making a cart to take the flowers around the city. Joking with my friends. Training."

"Is that all?" her voice was strained, and she looked everywhere but at him.

Zack tensed, reaching up to touch the scar on his cheek that for some reason Yuffie hadn't noticed before. "No." He shuddered, and now his voice turned hoarse. "I remember … fighting for something that I didn't understand. I remember finding out all of the horrible things that the people I looked up to had done." Every word was quieter than the last, and Yuffie's sense of dread grew. "I remember," he choked back a sob, "killing my best friend. Watching the life drain out of him as he gave me his most precious possession, and told me to protect my honor. Seeing Sephiroth burn down a village." He was shuddering now, head bowed in defeat, but his voice was steady again. "I remember … dying." He looked up at her now, his brilliant blue eyes clouded in confusion. "I remember dying, Yuffie."

She couldn't take the look of pain in his eyes any longer. Spinning on her heel, she ran as fast as she could through the trees, not paying any attention to the number of times she fell or how badly she was hurting herself. She could hear Zack calling for her, trying to catch up to her, but he had a harder time making his way through the dense foliage. By the time she finally stopped to catch her breath, she could no longer hear him.

She was panting heavily and her head was spinning. _Right, running plus head wound equals lots of pain…_ Slumping against a tree, she forced herself to take deep breaths. Once her breathing was back to normal, she thought about everything that Zack said he remembered.

It sounded like he was remembering a lot more than Yuffie was, but he didn't understand any more than she did. She had been hoping that her memories of Aerith's death were wrong, but when Zack said that he remembered his own death, that hope had disappeared.

_I'm not going to figure anything out just sitting here_, she berated herself. She pushed herself up and studied her surroundings. It was difficult to see more than a few yards in any particular direction because of the bushes and other plants growing amongst the trees. Yuffie sighed and looked at the tree she had been leaning against, then took a few steps back and jumped to the lowest branch.

Less than a minute later, Yuffie was about halfway up the tree, perched precariously on the branch. She took a deep breath and looked around again, this time seeing much more than she had before. She twisted and leaned out a little bit to see around the tree trunk behind her.

Biting back a gasp, she watched as a group of soldiers made their way through the trees, stopping beneath her tree. They all wore matching uniforms, a light tan with brown boots and hats of various styles, but all in the same shade of red. Each had a black band around their left arm with the letters _WRO_ printed boldly on it. One crouched down and examined the spot where she had been sitting, while the others stood by, keeping an eye on the surrounding forest.

Yuffie felt another memory coming to the surface. _No, no, no! This is bad, very bad! Stay focused! Don't think about..._

* * *

_The forests outside of Junon were pretty boring. Yuffie didn't know why she even bothered coming here. The monsters were annoying and there wasn't much treasure to be found. Not long after entering the forest, she had climbed the tallest tree she could find and just sat, watching everything that happened below her. _

_A few hours passed, and she had dozed off, one leg dangling off the branch. The sound of twigs snapping and voices arguing had woken her, and she looked down to find three people, two women and a man, walking beneath her. They weren't talking loud enough for her to understand what they were saying, but she could tell that they were all annoyed._

_She watched as they walked off, wondering if it was worth it to climb down and follow them. (I don't know, they don't look like they have very much on them …) She shook her head and leaned back again. _

_Not twenty minutes later, they were back, coming from a different direction this time. One of the women was talking louder now, and Yuffie leaned forward to listen._

_"Cloud, why didn't you ask for directions back at Fort Condor? Now we're lost!"_

_"We're not lost, Tifa," came the sullen reply._

_"Well-"_

_Before she could snap back at him, several monsters jumped out of the bushes. It didn't take long for the three to defeat the monsters, and Yuffie's eyes widened when she saw them using Fire and Ice materia._

_This time when they walked away, she jumped down quietly and followed._

* * *

"Sir! It looks like someone was here not that long ago," one of the soldiers spoke into a radio, his had resting lightly on the gun hanging at his side. The radio crackled a response, but it wasn't clear enough for Yuffie to understand at this distance. "Understood, sir!" The entire group straightened up, some casting nervous glances at one another.

"Do you really think we'll find them?" one asked. The others shrugged just as the radio crackled again.

They immediately fanned out and moved away from her tree, responding to whatever command they had just received. Yuffie started to relax, then realized that they still weren't far enough away for her to escape. She cursed under her breath and crossed her arms. _I need to get out of here before they find me…_ Her gaze drifted to the next closest tree. An idea started to form, and before she considered how stupid it might be, she mentally measured the distance from her place to one of the other tree's branches.

Leaning forward in a crouch, she glanced down to make sure that none of the soldiers would see her jump. They all looked nervous, eyes darting back and forth like they weren't sure what to expect. _If it wasn't for this head wound, I jump down and give them a real scare_. She grinned at the thought. When she moved to look back up at the branch she was aiming for, a flash of red caught her eye.

There, in the distance, something was moving through the trees. Yuffie's breath hitched, though she wasn't sure why. Leaning farther forward, she tried to get a better look, not paying attention to how she was slowly sliding off of the branch. By the time she realized that she was falling, it was too late. With a shriek she landed heavily on her back in the middle of the soldiers.

Blearily opening her eyes, she found them all staring wide eyed at her from behind their guns.

"Owww…" she reached up and touch her head, only to find that she was bleeding again. Black dots started to dance before her eyes, and she wondered how many more times she could blackout before it started to do serious damage.

**_But turn around (turn around), oh they've surrounded you_**

**_It's a showdown (showdown) and nobody comes to save you now_**

* * *

Hmm, flash of red ... who could that possibly be? XD

Maybe Yuffie will finally get that head wound treated, and stay conscious for more than two chapters.

And poor Zack! Remembering your own death has to be pretty hard... (Did anybody else bawl their eyes out at the end of Crisis Core? I know I certainly did.)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is finally done! You would not believe how relieved I am with this one finished. That being said, I'm not sure how much I like this chapter. I think part of the problem is that I didn't write it in one or two sittings like I did the others. This was spread out over several weeks, and only worked on on Tuesdays, so my thought process was completely different when I started it :(

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**_But you've got something they don't_**

**_Yeah you've got something they don't_**

Yuffie felt like she was floating in darkness. She couldn't move, and she couldn't open her eyes. _This kind of reminds me of that time…_ She felt herself being pulled into the memory, but before it completely took over, she heard someone talking nearby.

"...only leaves Cloud."

"Tifa has gone to look for him."

"Yes, I know. I sent some of the WRO soldiers with her, in case she needs help. I'm not sure how much she remembers, since she won't take the time to answer any of my questions."

"She will be fine." There was a rustle of fabric, like someone turning. "Tifa is not the one that I am worried about."

"Yes, well, this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to Yuffie." _Hey, what's that supposed to mean?_ she thought angrily. "Just give it some time, Vincent. She'll pull through."

The sound of receding footsteps and a closing door made Yuffie think that they had left her alone. It was quiet for a long time, and she felt herself drifting off when she heard footsteps again, this time approaching her. A strand of hair was brushed off of her forehead.

"Yuffie," a rough whisper sounded just next to her ear, "you made me promise … never to leave you alone. I am sorry … I broke my promise, and now …" the voice trailed off in a frustrated sigh. "Please, Yuffie … please … come back to me …"

The pain and sorrow that laced the words made her feel guilty, and she fought again to open her eyes.

"You were right … about everything," _Well, duh_, she thought, _I'm always right. But what was I right about?_ "I was not being fair to you." This made her even more curious, but he changed the subject abruptly. "Tifa has gone to look for Cloud, again. She wished me to tell you that she expects you to be awake by the time she returns." There was a long pause, then Yuffie felt a gentle pressure on her forehead, a feather-light touch, followed by quick footsteps toward the door.

It didn't take long for her to slip back into unconsciousness in the now silent room.

* * *

_She may not have been there to see it, but Yuffie knew that Tifa had been waiting for Cloud far longer than she was willing to admit. _

_It had started when they were young, little more than children. Tifa had waited patiently for Cloud to realize that girls existed, and that, yes, his best friend was in fact a girl. She had hoped that when he made this realization, he would also see that she had feelings for him. It never really worked out the way that she wanted it to._

_She had waited again for him to come back to Nibelheim. He'd gone to chase his dreams, to become a SOLDIER. She waited for him to come home and be her hero. When he did return, he hid his face and avoided her. She never knew that he was one of the infantrymen who accompanied Sephiroth and Zack to check the Nibel Reactor._

_When Cloud appeared in Midgar, she waited for him to remember who he was. She waited for him to go back to being the boy that she had grown up with, the one she had fallen in love with. Yuffie could still picture the look of betrayal on Tifa's face when Cloud had taken Aerith on a date at Gold Saucer. The young ninja had spent the better part of an hour comforting her friend._

_After Aerith's death, Tifa waited for Cloud to move on with his life. She waited for him to leave his guilt behind._

_Then he left, and she waited again. This time for a phone call, a visit, anything that would let her know that the spiky haired blond was still alive. _

_Then Geostigma and the Remnants happened. She could see his burdens lift away as they all stood in Aerith's church, and she thought that she wouldn't have to wait for much longer. Yuffie had seen the look of pride and hope in Tifa's eyes as she had looked at Cloud. But she had also seen the way that his eyes had shifted to look behind them, to someone in the doorway. She didn't turn quickly enough to see the full picture, but the retreating figure, clad in pink, told her what she needed to know. While Cloud's guilt may have ended, Yuffie was afraid that Tifa's waiting hadn't._

_Her fears were confirmed just a few weeks later, when she entered Seventh Heaven to find Tifa perched on a stool behind the bar, tears welling in her eyes. And so Tifa waited again. This time while Cloud went out and "found himself," whatever that meant. Yuffie made it her mission to find the stupid Chocobo head and beat some sense into him, ninja-style. Fortunately for him, she was distracted by the Deepground incident._

_After they saved the world for the third time, Cloud finally stopped wandering around the world long enough to acknowledge the fact that he had friends who were willing to help him. Now they all were sure that he would notice Tifa, and how she had been waiting for him for so long. Now she would finally stop waiting. _

_But, let's face it, everyone knows how much of a procrastinator Cloud is, and on top of that he's blind to anything that has to do with emotions. So it shouldn't have surprised any of them that Tifa was left waiting for another year before Cloud tentatively asked her if she was seeing anyone. Yuffie, who had been standing at the top of the stairs when she heard this, rolled her eyes and stomped downstairs to tell him what a colossal idiot he was no of course she wasn't see anyone she had been waiting for him for over half her life how did he not notice that and honestly he must be the stupidest person she had ever known!_

_Tifa smiled slightly at Yuffie's rampage, then turned to Cloud and shook her head. "No, Cloud, I'm not seeing anyone." He stumbled over his words for another five minutes before he finally asked her out. Yuffie couldn't help but grin at the thought that Tifa's waiting was finally over._

_Of course, it hadn't been too long after that when they'd all disappeared…_

* * *

"Ah, Yuffie, you're finally awake," she turned her head slightly, and found a man with black hair and a small goatee sitting in one of the chairs a few feet from the side of her bed. He was wearing a long purplish-blue coat, and she absently thought that if she was feeling better she probably would have teased him about it. "Yuffie?" He stood up and took a step toward her. "Do you remember me?" He looked like he was afraid of what her answer might be as he asked this.

"Umm," she blinked a few times and looked around the room. Sterilized white walls and artificial lighting confirmed her suspicions that she was in hospital. "I'm not sure," she looked back at him. "You look kind of familiar."

His looked both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

"But things have been weird for me lately, and uh," she gestured to the bandage on her head, "I may have hit my head a few more times than is good for me. So my memory's been kind of patchy about everything." She smiled at him, and after a few seconds he nodded and smiled back.

"Fair enough. I'm Reeve. We've been friends for a long time, and I'm also your boss." Yuffie was skeptical when he said this, but she let him continue. "I'm the commissioner for the WRO, and -"

"Hold on, what's the WRO? I saw that on those soldiers' uniforms, right before I … you know…"

"Fell out of a tree?"

"Yeah."

Reeve chuckled at her muttered response, then patiently explained what the goal of the WRO was, and answered all of her other questions about what work she did with them.

"Okay, that all sounds legit, but how do you explain my memory loss, and my other memories that don't match up with what you're saying?" she crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow.

Reeve studied her for a bit before settling back in his chair. "That's what I need to talk to you about, Yuffie. We're not sure what happened to you and Tifa. I was hoping that you could explain a few things, since she left to go look for Cloud."

"I'll try, but no promises," she nodded.

It was a few moments before Reeve spoke again. "Yuffie, do you know how long we've been looking for you?" Yuffie shook her head, and Reeve sighed heavily. "You, Tifa, and Cloud have been missing for nearly two years."

Yuffie nodded slowly. "Okay, I guess … that kind of sounds about right. All of my memories from before that are kind of jumbled up, and that's where I'm not sure what actually happened. For a while it felt like I had two sets of memories in my head, but now, that other set is starting to fade." Reeve looked troubled, but didn't say anymore. "Do you have any idea how this could have happened?"

"At first we thought that you had been kidnapped, but when there were no ransom demands made, we weren't sure. From what you've said, kidnapping doesn't sound right." He turned and looked out the window, "I wish Tifa had stayed long enough for me to get her opinion on this."

"Well, why don't you ask Zack and Aerith?" Yuffie asked. "You did find them, too, right?"

"We did find a young man named Zack wandering the forest not far from where you were, but Yuffie," Reeve looked back at her, and she was surprised by the concerned look he gave her, "Aerith died almost six years ago."

An image flashed in Yuffie's mind after he said this. _Aerith kneeling in prayer. Yuffie reaching out, about to call to her. A flash of sword, and Sephiroth with his sadistic smile, silver death descending on the flower girl._

Yuffie shook her head to try to rid herself of the image.

"I know ... that Sephiroth killed her," she said hesitatingly. "But I also know … that she was with us. She came with me and Tifa to look for Cloud, and when she met Zack they became friends right away. Tifa and I agreed that he had to come with us. We didn't know why, it just felt right."

"Alright, I'll talk to Zack and see what he thinks about all of this." Reeve stood to leave.

"I'm not crazy," Yuffie crossed her arms with a huff.

"I never said that you were, Yuffie," he answered with a hint of amusement.

"Just checking."

Reeve nodded and went to open the door. Before he could touch the handle, the door swung open. Yuffie's eyes widened when she saw the man standing there.

"Vincent," Reeve nodded to the other man as he walked by, leaving the two alone.

**_You've just gotta keep your eyes open_**

* * *

So what do you think? Good, bad? Should I rewrite it? Honestly I have no idea right now.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone! I can't believe how long it's been since I worked on this story. I promise that I haven't abandoned it, life just got a little out of hand there for a while.

I've completed my first semester of college, and what an adventure that was. That was the main reason that this chapter has been so delayed, my classes left me wiped out there for a while. Then my grandmother had surgery and stayed at my house for 10 days, since we only have one floor and she wouldn't have to worry about going up and down stairs. And on top of that, my sister's cat died last week.

So, yeah, it's been crazy. But now things are starting to get back to normal. I made a timeline for everything that has happened in this story, in flashbacks and present time, so that I can see what events are missing. I have a good idea of where it's going to go, hopefully I'll be able to stick to my plan. If all goes well, I hope to have this done before spring semester starts up, so by the end of January. It's only three more chapters, I think I can do it...

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/favorited/alerted so far. It really makes my day to see that people are enjoying this story.

If anyone would like to make a guess about where Cloud is, or what he has been doing this whole time, feel free to do so. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what he's been up to, lol.

The bit about Yuffie and the heart rate monitor was inspired by my little sister. She was in and out of the hospital so often when she was younger that it turned into a vacation for her sometimes, and she's such a joker anyway, that we weren't surprised when she tried get the monitor to flatline by holding her breath.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**_Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown_**

**_Everybody's watching to see the fallout_**

**_Even when you're sleeping, sleeping_**

Yuffie tried to keep calm, but it wasn't easy. Finally confronted with the man she had been seeing so often in her weird dreams and _memories_, she could feel tears welling in her eyes, and she didn't know why.

"Yuffie," he didn't move from the doorway, just looked at her from under a mane of midnight black hair.

"H-hey," she stammered, as she tried to think of something to say. Her mind had gone completely blank when he said her name, and all she could focus on was how intense his red eyes were.

He tilted his head to the side a bit, and something flickered in his eyes. _Amusement, maybe?_ She tried to look relaxed, which was difficult since her heart was pounding. _He won't notice, right? Of course he won't, I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! I have the best poker face in the whole world! No, the whole universe! There's no way that anyone can tell what I'm thinking-_

"Yuffie, are you alright? You seem to be hyperventilating…" There was a measure of concern in his voice, though not many people would have noticed it. "Perhaps I should return when you are feeling better…" he took a step back and turned on his heel, the door swinging closed before Yuffie could so much as blink.

"Wait!" she managed to call, just as the door clicked closed. She waited for a few seconds, but he didn't come back. _What just happened?_ Yuffie sat up and started to swing her legs out of the bed when the door opened again.

"And just where do you think you're going?" a nurse asked, raising her eyebrows and giving Yuffie a look that said she had better lie back down.

"Umm, no where … I just," Yuffie huffed in annoyance and threw herself back against her pillow. "I need to talk to the guy who just left, can you call him back for me? Please?" she added, when the nurse continued to look skeptical.

"I'll see what I can do. You stay there." The nurse pointed at Yuffie to emphasize her point. A few minutes later, she returned. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Valentine has left. He'll be back tomorrow, so you can talk to him then."

"What makes you think that he'll be back tomorrow?" Yuffie frowned at the nurse. "And what if I had to tell him something really important?"

"Mr. Valentine has come to the hospital everyday for the past week, Ms. Kisaragi. I highly doubt that he will stay away now that you are finally awake. However, if what you have to say is really that important, I can have someone call him back."

"No, don't worry about it. He probably wouldn't answer his phone anyway," Yuffie looked away from the nurse, trying to sort through her thoughts and figure out why she was so certain that he wouldn't answer his phone. Something told her that she knew it from experience, but whenever she tried to latch onto a memory, it would slip away from her. She realized that the nurse was talking again, and turned her attention back to listening.

"- in the meantime, would you like to speak with anyone else? The commissioner of the WRO is still here. I believe he went to talk to one of the other patients."

"No, I'm good. How long do I have to stay here?"

"The doctors would like to keep you for at least another three days."

"WHAT? THREE DAYS?" Yuffie started to jump up, but stopped when the nurse scowled at her. "But I have to help look for my friends!"

"Yes, well, it might not have been so long if you hadn't gone exploring the woods with such a severe head wound," the nurse gave her a disapproving look. "Please stay in bed, Ms. Kisaragi. If that is too difficult for you, a guard will be assigned to your room, to make sure that you don't go anywhere."

Yuffie sighed and settled back against the pillows. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

* * *

An hour later, Yuffie had flipped through the channels on the t.v. in her room. When that got old, she counted all of the ceiling tiles three times, and now she was holding her breath, to see if she could get the monitor showing her heart rate to flatline.

"Yuffie, what are you doing?"

Yuffie turned her head and found Reeve standing in the doorway, watching her with a bemused expression on his face.

She released the breath that she was holding, "I'm so boooored. There's nothing for me to do here."

Reeve laughed and shook his head. "Well maybe this will help," he said as he stepped out of the doorway. Yuffie smiled when she saw that Zack was standing just outside of her room.

Her smiled faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. "No fair! Why do you get to walk around?" she crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance.

"I'm not the one who's been unconscious for the past week, kiddo," Zack grinned and flopped down in the chair next to her bed. "We need to talk."

"Ya think?"

"Privately," Zack shot a glance at Reeve, who looked back and forth between the two before nodding.

"I suppose that's fair. If either of you need me, have one of the hospital staff call me, I'll be at the WRO headquarters." Reeve waved goodbye to the two as he left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Zack watched the door for a few seconds, then turned to look at Yuffie. "So, how're you doing?"

"Alright, I guess. My memories are still just flashes. I can't hold onto anything for more than a minute or two." She sighed and closed her eyes. "How about you? Do you remember any more?"

"I remember everything."

Yuffie's eyes snapped open, and she stared at him. "Really?" Zack nodded. "So … what you said before … you know, about dying? Is that …"

"It's true." He watched her carefully, looking for any sign that she was going to freak out the way that she had the last time.

"I still don't know what to think about that…" she looked away. "I had always wondered what happened to you, back when I was younger. I used to … used to …" Yuffie moaned, clutching her head. "It was right there! I was remembering, and now it's gone!"

"Easy, Yuffie," Zack put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember what I told you before? You can't force memories. Just let them come to you." Yuffie relaxed slowly, and Zack drew back.

"I used to … look for you … before I met Cloud and the gang. I thought that we could be treasure hunting partners."

"Partners?" Zack sounded skeptical, but when she glanced over at him she saw that he was smiling.

"Yeah, partners. We'd split everything that we found 20-80. You'd fight all the monsters and I'd open the treasure chests!"

"Well, I guess it would have been an improvement from the arrangement that we had before, with me fighting all the monsters and getting nothing." His smile turned into a wry grin. "Wish I could have been there to help you, Treasure Princess."

Yuffie felt tears start to form in her eyes, and quickly cleared her throat. "So, you and Aerith …" Zack blushed and looked away. "She told me a little bit of your story, a long time ago. Can you tell me how it ended?"

"Not much to tell. I died saving Cloud from the Shinra army. The Lifestream was kind of boring for a while. It was better once Aerith was there, but it was hard watching all of our friends mourn for her. We tried to help whenever we could, with Meteor, and then again when Geostigma and the Remnants showed up."

Zack kept talking, but Yuffie's mind had latched onto something that he had said, and she could feel another memory surfacing.

* * *

_Cloud was standing in the pool of water in the middle of the church surrounded by children, looking more relaxed than anyone had seen him in years. After helping Denzel into the pool, more kids started jumping in, their screams and cheers of excitement lifting everyone's spirits._

_"Last one in's a rott'n egg!" shouted Cid._

_"It's working!" Yuffie jumped up and down, cheering along with everyone else._

_When Cloud looked past them, with widened eyes, Yuffie turned, just catching a flashing smile and toss of a braid. _Aerith_... She wanted to call out to her, but knew that she shouldn't. Leaning against the door was another person that she never thought she would see again. Zack waved to Cloud as he turned to follow Aerith, but his eyes darted to Yuffie for just a moment. The corner of his mouth tugged upwards in a slight smile, before he disappeared with Aerith._

_Yuffie felt a matching smile cross her face, and turned back to the rest of the group._

* * *

"Yuffie?" Zack was watching her, head tilted slightly to the side. "Remember something?"

"Uh, yeah, I was just thinking about … the last time that I saw you and Aerith, in the church after the Remnants."

"Ah, yeah I remember that. It was kind of bittersweet, wasn't it?" he sighed. "Tell me what else you've been remembering."

"Well, most of it's been focused on one person…"

"That's how I started, just little memories of Aerith. Then I started to remember other people, but it was still mostly things about her," he nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"This guy, he was here earlier, maybe you met him. His name's Vincent," Zack shook his head, "well, he's … he's really annoying, actually. From what I remember, he was always sitting in corner, or going off by himself, so he could brood and be all depressing. He said he had to … to …" Yuffie took a deep breath, "atone, for his sins. He had been in love with a woman, a long time ago, and she broke his heart. He blamed himself for everything that happened to her, but if you ask me, she deserved what she got. We found him in the basement of the Shinra Manor when we were going after Sephiroth. He was-"

"Wait, he wasn't in a coffin was he?" Yuffie stared wide-eyed at Zack when he said this.

"How did you know that?"

"I found him sleeping down there when I was at the Manor one time," Zack shrugged.

"And you just left him there?"

Zack smiled sheepishly, "Heh, yeah. But in my defense, I thought he was a vampire, so I really didn't want to wake him up." Yuffie started laughing at this, and Zack soon joined her.

"Well, I guess it all turned out alright," Yuffie chuckled. "He ended up being one of my best friends, after all of our adventuring and stuff. I moved into the Manor with him to help fix it up, and never really left. He's not the best roommate, 'cause he still had those mood swings where he'd be all depressing for days, but he was getting better. I don't remember specifics, but I think we had a big fight the last time we saw each other. I wish I could remember what it was about." She frowned and looked down at her hands.

"You'll remember," Zack assured her. "It'll come to you when you're not expecting it to, but you'll remember. Trust me."

"Thanks, Zack."

"I'd better go. You should get some sleep," he stood to leave, but Yuffie grabbed his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"...to the church. They still haven't found Aerith, and I was going to start looking for her…" he spoke slowly, trying to pull away.

"Sounds good. I'll come to!" Yuffie flashed her most brilliant smile.

"Yuffie," Zack tried to pull away again, "you have to stay here. You're still hurt-"

"Please Zack! If I have to stay here for three more days I'll DIE of boredom!" she looked up at him with pleading eyes. "I would help you escape, if you were stuck in here!"

Zack glanced at the door, then back at her. "If I leave you here, you'll find another way out, won't you?" Yuffie grinned, knowing that she was going to get what she wanted. "Alright, but you have to promise me that you'll take it easy. I don't want to be responsible for you getting injured more than you already are."

"Deal! Now go distract the nurses!"

He smirked and propped the door open before he left the room. Yuffie waited until she heard giggles from down the hall before slipping out of bed. She found her clothes sitting neatly in a corner. They had been cleaned, but that did little to improve the tears that had accumulated over the past few weeks. _They'll have to do…_

Slipping out the door, she saw Zack leaning on the desk at the nurses' station, flirting shamelessly with every woman in sight. _Oh Aerith, you must have your hands full with this one_, she thought with a smile. It was easy to sneak down another hallway and find the stairs. Nearly ten minutes later, Zack found her lounging on a bench outside of the hospital.

"What took you so long?" she yawned, standing up to stretch.

"Very funny. I had to come up with an excuse for not accepting any of their phone numbers." Zack started walking down the road. "Some of those nurses were really persistent. And it's not like I could tell them I have a girlfriend after what I said to keep their attention away from you."

"Thanks," Yuffie smiled as she walked beside him. "I really appreciate it."

"Sure thing. Just don't make me regret it."

Yuffie nodded absently. She felt just a little bit guilty about disappearing without leaving a note. _He never left a note when he disappeared. That's why…_

* * *

_Yuffie sat at the kitchen table in the Shinra Manor, frozen. It had been two days since she'd woken up and realized that Vincent was gone. At first she just thought that he had gone out to the store, but when he didn't return that day, she became worried. She had run into town and asked everyone she saw if they knew anything about where he was. No one had seen him._

_Searching the immediate area hadn't turned up anything, so she had returned home to think. There were no notes anywhere, and no signs that he had been taken by force. A quick search of his room revealed that he had taken a few of his things, but not everything. Sitting down at the table, Yuffie realized that what little evidence there was suggested that he had taken a brief trip somewhere. (But that makes no sense, why would he take a trip without telling her? Unless…) He was going to see _her._ Of course._

_He hadn't been to see _her_ since the Omega incident, when Shelke had found him in _her_ cave. Yuffie had assumed that he had finally moved on, but it seemed that she was wrong. She felt numb; so much so, that she didn't bother moving from where she was until the next afternoon, when she heard the front door open, and the sound of metallic shoes crossing the floor of the front hall._

_"Where have you been?" she asked, her voice deadly quiet._

_All she got in response was a deadpan stare._

_"You didn't tell me you were leaving."_

_"…"_

_"You didn't bother to leave a note. Which I would have actually bothered to read this time, for your information."_

_"Yuffie…"_

_"Don't you 'Yuffie' me! Why didn't you say something to me, Vince?! Just so that I would know that you were okay?"_

_"Yuf-"_

_"Don't! Don't say anything! I'm not finished yet! You have no idea how worried I was when I realized that you were gone! Something could have happened to you, and I wouldn't have known where to look! I wouldn't have been able to come and help you! Sure, this time wasn't as bad as that whole thing with Omega, but I was still worried, Vince! You can't just go disappearing like that without telling someone where you're going!"_

_"I apologize. I did not know that my absence would cause you such distress."_

_"You bet it caused me distress! I don't think I can take it if you disappear on me like that again!"_

_Vincent sighed. "What must I do to make it up to you?"_

_"Promise me that you'll never do that again! You have to tell me before you go off for days at a time. And you have to tell me where you're going. And how long you'll be gone."_

_"Is that all?"_

_Yuffie glared at him, "That's all. For now."_

_"Very well. I promise. But you must promise me the same."_

_"What?"_

_"You must tell me when you are going to be gone for extended periods of time, where you plan on going, and how long you will be gone. It is only fair."_

_Yuffie grumbled her agreement before stomping up the stairs to her room._

* * *

Yuffie shook her head and kept walking beside Zack.

**_Keep your ey-eyes open_**

**_Keep your ey-eyes open_**

**_Keep your ey-eyes_**

* * *

Please review! Let me know what you think might happen from here on out!


	8. Author's Note

Hey everyone!

I am so so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I swear I haven't abandoned this story, I just had a horrible case of writer's block, and I had no motivation to write anything at all.

Every time I went to start working on this again, something came up (i.e. this past Monday, I had planned to go over everything I have written and plan the final few chapters; instead I spent the day running between my house, my grandparents' house, the doctor's office, the emergency room, and the pharmacy. Thankfully everyone is okay now)

I just wanted to let you all know that I am going to be rewriting part of the last chapter, and then reposting it. However, I won't be doing that until I've finished the rest of the story. I don't think it will take me that long once I get writing, it's just getting started that's the problem, but I have my motivation back, so cross your fingers :)

If all goes according to plan (which it never does, but let's hope), I should be updating by mid July, if not sooner.

You've all been wonderfully patient, and I thank you for that.

With love (and sincerest apologies),

M. L. Ayala


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